Originally published on May 21, this post has been updated to include the link to the survey, which is open to Burleith residents and owners through September 3, and a one-page flyer that accompanied the June Burleith Bell. See below for other ground rules.

By the BCA Board of Directors

Dear Burleith Community,

We recognize the community’s interest for clarification around the historic designation decision process. We listened to concerns regarding the nature of the proposed vote, and as previously communicated, we cancelled the proposed vote of the BCA membership. We referenced in that communication that further details would follow regarding a community survey.

The BCA Board held its monthly Board Meeting on Thursday evening. After nearly three hours of debate among Board members representing a wide range of positions, the following decisions were reached:

The BCA will conduct a survey on the question “Do you want historic designation for Burleith?” with a binary Yes or No response.

The survey will be online and will be open from June 3 to September 3.

All avenues of making the community aware of the survey will be used (and we encourage all of you to help get word to your neighbors).

The survey is for data gathering only. It is not a vote.

The same participation rules as with the 2017 housing survey will pertain:

Must be a Burleith resident and/or property owner

One survey per person

Maximum of two surveys per address

We are adding that participants must be over the age of 18.

In order to make use of the final data, demographic questions will be asked so as to be able to parse the results however may be desired. The demographic questions will be the same as what was used on the previous Neighborhood Study Group Survey which include identifiers for address, owner, owner resident, renter, other, etc.

We are aiming for at least 200 individual responses, though hope to receive responses from every Burleith stakeholder

The data will be shared at the conclusion of the survey period.

The results will not directly drive an action by the Board. However:

Should the results come in reflecting a clear majority against historic designation, we will cease discussion about it and efforts towards achieving historic designation will not be undertaken.

Should the results be tight or ambiguous, we will host a special community meeting to discuss possible next steps.

Should the results come in reflecting a clear majority in support of historic designation, we will host a special community meeting to discuss next steps including the structure and parameters of a formal vote.

The Board appreciates the community’s input on this issue. We believe this change, and the gathering of data, allows us to move forward as a community and begin making decisions based on community wide data.

We would also like to thank all the individuals that have helped inform the discussion and gather all the information we have pooled together. If you are unfamiliar with the issues at hand regarding this topic, or if you know of neighbors who are uninformed of the background, please refer to the Explore Historic Designation page on the website. We look forward to the community’s opinion as gathered via this upcoming survey.